Councilman's son admits to child sex crimes

The son of a Bound Brook councilman pleaded guilty yesterday to sending naked pictures of himself over the internet to someone he thought was a teenage girl.

Ben Auletta Jr., 37, of East Meadow Drive, will be under parole supervision for life as a result of the sex offenses that occurred between Dec. 11 and March 12, under the deal his lawyer struck with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Auletta and defense attorney Michael Rogers appeared before Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman in Somerville, where Auletta pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child and fourth-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Robin Yerich handled the case for the state.

Under the terms of the deal, Auletta must undergo psychological treatment and will have to install a program on his computer so officials can track his internet use. He will also have to register as a convicted sex offender under Megan's Law.

Auletta is the son of Bound Brook Councilman Ben Auletta Sr. and lives with his parents. The councilman was in court while his son merely answered yes, no or offered a bit of clarification as the attorneys questioned the accused.

Auletta Jr. told the judge that he sent videos of himself to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

"Were you naked and doing things you shouldn't have been doing?" Rogers asked.

"Yes," Auletta said.

He also admitted that he possessed child pornography, though he tried to delete the images from his computer.

Pressing him to own up to additional details, Yerich asked Auletta what he was doing in front of the web camera, and Auletta said he was touching himself.

"You also had chats, you were chatting with this person?" Yerich said.

"Yes," Auletta said, adding that the dialogue was sexual.

The child turned out to be a detective in Florida, the prosecution has said. Police arrested Auletta at his parents' home on March 12, following an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey and South Florida task forces on internet crimes against children.

Rogers later acknowledged most defendants are sentenced to jail for such offenses. The fact that Auletta Jr. didn't meet such a fate had nothing to do with his father being a councilman, the lawyer said.

Rogers said he had his client evaluated by Philip Witt, a Somerville-based forensic psychologist, who determined that Auletta Jr. would not pose a future risk to anyone if he underwent treatment. Part of his psychological treatment will include counseling as well as victim empathy exercises.

"His behavior was basically isolated," Rogers said. "My role in the system is to get the best result I can for the client, given the facts and circumstances presented. I think we were greatly aided in getting a report right up front that this person was not a danger to others."